Facilitation of a conference call

ABSTRACT

There is provided a system for facilitating a conference call. The system includes a module to generate a real-time voiceprint from a voice input of a participant in the conference call, and a module to provide information indicative of the participant based on the real-time voiceprint.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to teleconferencing, and moreparticularly, to a use of a voiceprint to facilitate a conference call.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Audio conferences via a switched telephone network are in widespreaduse. The conference may be accomplished by use of a multi-line telephoneor by a conference bridge having a telephone number that can be calledby all conference participants.

To make sense of a conference call, a participant attempts to keep trackof whom the other participants are and, at any given time, who isspeaking. Typically, participants introduce themselves at the outset ofa conference, furnishing an opportunity for the others to identify themand to learn the unique characteristics of their voices. Thus,participants identify one another by recognition of vocalcharacteristics such as pitch and accent. Still, it is not unusualduring a conference for a listener to ask who has just spoken. Thisscenario becomes further complicated in a case where the conferenceincludes participants from two or more companies and from variousorganizations within each company. Also, the conference might bearranged by more than one person, each inviting still more people sothat there is no centralized advance knowledge of who has been invited,let alone who will actually be present. Thus, during a conference, it isup to each participant to associate the voices and identities of theothers and to categorize their roles.

A video conference provides video as well as audio, but it is not ascommon as the audio conference because it involves additional expensesfor special input, output, and coordinating equipment, and also greatertransmission bandwidth. An important role of video is to help alistening participant identify a speaking participant.

Recently, the term “desktop conferencing” has come into use, referringto an audio or a video conference that makes use of personal computers(PC) connected via the Internet. A PC can also be configured tointerface with a telephone, and it may provide a platform for hardwareand software for special purpose processing, such as voiceprintanalysis.

Jessica J. Baldis, “Effects of Spatial Audio on Communication DuringDesktop Conferencing”, M S Thesis, Department of Industrial Engineering,University of Washington, 1998, discusses a history of desktopconferencing and explains the importance of identifying the speaker inaudio desktop conferencing. Baldis also describes a system in whichbinaural audio is transmitted in a manner that makes the voices ofdifferent speakers appear to come from different places.

Besides being more complicated and expensive than a basic audioconferencing system, a system that involves either video or “spatialaudio” requires all participants in a conference to use compatiblespecial equipment.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,804 to Akita, entitled “Telephone AnsweringVoiceprint Discriminating and Switching Apparatus”, describes a voicemail system that employs voiceprint analysis. A voice processing unitand a voice analysis unit work together to receive a voice signal in atelephone call and produce voiceprint parameter data. Thereafter, acomparison unit and a decision unit are employed to determine a routingfor the call.

Nevertheless, there is a need for a system that allows a participant ina conference call to better track dialog of other participants, withoutrequiring a video link or special equipment at the site of eachparticipant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is realized in a system that facilitates aconference call by enabling a participant in the conference call todetermine and categorize the identities of other participants. Itassociates a voice of a participant with an identity of the participant,and tracks that identification over the course of the conference. Thesystem directs information to a display for presentation of an image,e.g., a photograph or an icon, to indicate which of the participants isspeaking.

The system may also be used in association with a video conferencingsystem to highlight the participant who is speaking. This arrangement isparticularly useful in a case where the video conferencing system doesnot automatically zoom in on the speaking participant.

An embodiment of the present invention is a system for facilitating aconference call. The system includes a module to generate a real-timevoiceprint from a voice input of a participant in the conference call,and a module to provide information indicative of the participant basedon the real-time voiceprint.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a system for facilitatinga conference call that includes a module to generate a real-timevoiceprint from a voice input of a participant in the conference call,and a module to determine whether the real-time voiceprint matches areference voiceprint.

The present invention can also be embodied as a system for facilitatinga conference call that includes a module to generate a first voiceprintfrom a first voice input during the call and to generate a secondvoiceprint from a second voice input during the call, and a module todetermine whether the second voiceprint matches the first voiceprint.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system suited foremployment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a site showing details of a conferencevisualizer.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary presentation of information ona display.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a portion of a telecommunications systemwhere a conference visualizer provides information to a videoconferencing system.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a telecommunication system where aconference visualizer is configured for use in a private branchexchange.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention is realized in a system referredto herein as a conference visualizer (CV). The CV facilitates aconference call by enabling a participant in the conference call todetermine and categorize the identities of other participants. Itassociates a voice of a participant with an identity of the participant,and tracks that identification over the course of the conference.

During the conference, the CV employs automatic speaker recognition,i.e., a voiceprint, to indicate which of a plurality of participants isspeaking. A voiceprint is a numerical measure that, when produced froman audio waveform of spoken dialogue from a speaker, is characteristicof the speaker. The CV includes a display, where a spatial arrangementof information on the display can be controlled to show the roles andrelationships of the participants. Thus, the CV helps a participant tomore fully follow and understand the conference so as to betterparticipate in the conference. Additionally, the CV can provide a recordof dialogue that occurred during the conference and that indicates whichof the participants was speaking. Such a record can assist in apreparation of conference notes.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system 100 suited foremployment of the present invention. System 100 includes a conferencebridge 105 coupled via connections 125, 145 and 165 to telephones 120,140 and 160, respectively, which are in turn located at sites 115, 135and 155, respectively. Participants 110, 130, 132 and 150 are conductinga conference call. Participant 110 is at site 115 and participant 150 isat site 155. Note that two participants, namely participants 130 and132, are located at site 135 and that both are using a single telephone,namely telephone 140, as a speaker phone. Site 115 includes anembodiment of the present invention in a CV 122.

An advantage of CV 122 is that it is entirely at the location ofparticipant 110, i.e., site 115, and it does not require anycorresponding special equipment at sites 135 and 155. However, the sites135 and 155 may include CVs 122, if desired. Nevertheless, conferencearrangements can be made in a conventional manner, without regard forwhether or not a particular site 115, 135 or 155 includes a CV 122.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of site 115 showing CV 122 in greater detail.The principal modules of CV 122 are a voiceprint generator 225 and anorganizer 235. CV 122 also includes an input device, such as a keyboard265, and an output device, such as a display 255. The term “module” isused herein to demarcate a functional operation rather a particularphysical embodiment of a component. As such, the modules of CV 122 mayimplemented as stand-alone components, or they may be integratedtogether.

CV 122 may be implemented in special purpose hardware, that is, hardwarespecifically designed to perform the functions described herein.Alternatively, CV 122 may be implemented in software and stored in amemory (not shown) for execution by a general-purpose processor (notshown). Suitable examples of such a general-purpose processor includethe members of the Sun™ Microsystems family of computer systems, themembers of the IBM™ Personal Computer family, or any conventionalwork-station or graphics computer device.

In the case where CV 122 is implemented in software, instructions forexecution of the operations described herein are installed into a memoryand executed by a processor. However, the instructions can reside on anexternal storage media 285 for subsequent loading into the memory.Storage media 285 can be any conventional storage media, including, butnot limited to, a floppy disk, a compact disk, a magnetic tape, a readonly memory, or an optical storage media. Storage media 285 could alsobe a random access memory, or other type of electronic storage, locatedon a remote storage system and coupled to CV 122.

A speaker participating in a conference call generates speech, i.e.,spoken dialogue. The speaker may be any of participants 110, 130, 132 or150. The spoken dialogue is presented to CV 122 as a voice input 220.

Voiceprint generator 225 receives voice input 220 and generates avoiceprint 230 therefrom. Voiceprint 230 is a numerical representationof voice input 220, and is characteristic of the speaker whose spokendialogue is represented by voice input 220. Ideally, for each ofparticipants 110, 130, 132 and 150, voiceprint generator 225 generates adistinguishable voiceprint 230. When voiceprint generator 225 isactively processing a real-time voice input 220, it produces a real-timevoiceprint 230.

Organizer 235 receives voiceprint 230 from voiceprint generator 225.Organizer 235 has two modes of operation, namely a training mode and ananalysis mode. In the training mode, organizer 235 receives a firstvoiceprint 230 and stores it into a participant table, i.e., table 240.A voice print that is stored into table 240 is referred to herein as areference voiceprint. In the analysis mode, organizer 235 receives asecond voiceprint 230, and a matching module 237 determines whether thesecond voiceprint 230 matches with a reference voiceprint from table240. Matching module 237 effectively determines whether the secondvoiceprint 230 matches the first voiceprint 230. Matching module 237compares the second voiceprint 230 with the reference voiceprints intable 240 and determines a best match. Based on the determination, areporting module 239 provides information 250 indicative of theparticipant associated with voiceprint 230. That is, information 250indicates which of the participants is speaking.

Keyboard 265 enables participant 110 to provide, define and editdescriptive information about the participants in the conference call.Such descriptive information is stored into table 240 in associationwith the reference voiceprint of the participants. Descriptiveinformation can be any type of information, for example, a participant'sname, organizational affiliation, job title, and geographic location.The descriptive information is included as a component of information250.

Also, via keyboard 265, participant 110 can manually control whetherorganizer 235 is in analysis mode or in training mode to populate table240. While taking part in the conference call in the usual manner,participant 110 decides when to activate the training mode by observingthat another participant who is of particular interest is speaking.

If desired, participant 110 may disable both of the training mode andthe analysis mode, effectively putting CV 122 into a standby mode. Thestandby is appropriate, for example, during a period when more than oneperson is speaking or when there is non-speech “background” sound.

Display 255 receives information 250 and shows a representation of theparticipants. When a particular participant is speaking, and thusproviding voice input 220, information 250 indicates this situation in amanner that allows participant 110 to recognize that the particularparticipant is speaking. For example, display 255 may ordinarily showall of the participants in a muted image, where information 250 causesdisplay 255 to highlight the representation of the participant that isspeaking. Alternatively, information 250 may cause display 255 to showan image of only the participant that is currently speaking or that haslast spoken. Nonetheless, participant 110 can recognize when differentparticipants start and stop talking.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary presentation of information250 on display 255. An icon 310 that includes an identity 315 and a face320 represents each participant in the conference call. Identity 315would typically be the name of the participant, and face 320 could be aphotograph, an icon or a caricature. Additionally, an organizationalaffiliation 345 and a geographic location 355 further describe theparticipants. Table 1 provides a set of descriptions for participants110, 130, 132 and 150.

TABLE 1 Participant Site Name Organization Location 110 115 JonesVerizon Boston 130 135 Brown ABC Corp. Hartford 132 135 Green ABC Corp.Hartford 150 155 Smith Verizon New York

On display 255, graphical features such as colors and perimeter lines,and text are used to organize the presentation of information 250, forexample to show a relationship between various participants. Referringagain to FIG. 3, a perimeter line 350 indicates that Jones is in Boston,a perimeter line 360 indicates that Smith is in New York, and aperimeter line 340 groups Jones and Smith together as being affiliatedwith Verizon. Also, a perimeter line 385 indicates that Brown and Greenare located together in Hartford, and that both are affiliated with ABCCorp. These relationships can be entered via keyboard 265, for exampleby entering the information into a table such as Table 1.

Additionally, a user can use a graphical editor to manipulate theperimeter lines and move the icons on display 255 by employment of apointing device such as a mouse (not shown). It allows the user toarrange the perimeter lines and move the icons spatially on display 255in whatever pattern the user feels is appropriate. For example, membersof different companies could be grouped together, and within suchgroups, members of different departments. The graphical editor allowsfor indicating group boundaries and relative individual rank andhierarchical relationships, e.g., director, subordinate.

Assume that at an initiation of the conference call display 255 does notyet include a presentation of information. CV 122 is located at site115, so Jones has access to it. Jones says, “Hello, this is Jonesspeaking.” This dialogue is represented in voice input 220, voiceprintgenerator 225 generates a voiceprint 230, and organizer 235, in trainingmode, stores a reference voiceprint to table 240. As organizer 235 doesnot yet have any additional descriptive information about Jones,reporting module 239 provides a default icon (not shown) to indicate anunknown participant. Subsequently, Jones provides descriptiveinformation, which is stored into table 240 in association with Jones'reference voiceprint. Eventually, each of Brown, Green and Smith speak,and their reference voice prints and descriptive information are alsostored into table 240.

Organizer 235 switches to analysis mode, either automatically or undercontrol of Jones. Assume that Smith is now speaking and thus providing asource of voice input 220. Voiceprint generator 225 generates voiceprint230 in real-time. Matching module 237 searches table 240 and finds amatch with the reference voiceprint for Smith. Reporting module 239obtains information relating to Smith from table 240 and providesinformation 250 indicative of Smith being the speaker. For example,referring again to FIG. 3, a face 335 for Smith is shown as having anopen mouth. However, the indication of a participant speaking can bepresented in any convenient manner, e.g., a change in a parameter of anicon, such as intensity, color, size or shape.

Note again that Brown and Green are both located at site 135, inHartford. Since CV 122 distinguishes participants on a basis of avoiceprint, in a case where either of Brown or Green is speaking, CV 122indicates which of the two is speaking.

Referring again to FIG. 2, note that there are several alternativefeatures for CV 122. These features relate to operations of a speechprocessor 275, a library 270, and a log 241.

Speech processor 275 monitors voice input 220 and extracts a syntacticalmeaning of the dialog contained therein. In turn, it may provide acontrol 280 to organizer 235 to automate some of the features of CV 122described above. For example, at the initiation of the conference call,as each of the participants are introducing themselves, speech processor275 may capture a phrase, “Hello, this is Jones. I'm in Boston.” Speechprocessor 275 issues control 280 to switch organizer 235 into trainingmode to save a reference voiceprint to table 240 and it provides adescription indicating that the reference voiceprint belongs to Jonesand that Jones is in Boston. This description is also saved to table240. Thus, these activities do not need to be controlled manually by auser at keyboard 265.

Speech processor 275 could also include a speech generating capability.Such a capability enables speech processor 275 to act as a coordinatorof the conference call, where, at a particular time, it asks each of theparticipants to introduce themselves and perhaps requests additionalinformation from the participants.

Library 270 is a memory that contains reference voiceprints anddescriptive information for potential participants, particularly forpeople that regularly participate in conference calls. It may alsoinclude information that would not ordinarily be readily available, suchas a photograph of a participant, which could be presented on display255 when that participant is speaking. Library 270 may be implemented ona transient storage media, such as a floppy disk, or on a databasesystem to which CV 122 can be connected. In a case where data relatingto a participant is available in library 270, the data is downloadedinto table 240 at the initiation of the conference call, thus permittingorganizer 235 to avoid training for that participant.

Regardless of whether the reference voiceprints in table 240 aredeveloped during a training mode in a current conference call, ordownloaded from library 270, it is desirable to refine the referencevoiceprint during the course of the conference call based on voiceprints230 that are acquired by organizer 235 during the conference call. Inother words, organizer 235 may concurrently operate in both of itstraining mode and its analysis mode. If library 270 is available, therefined reference voiceprint and, if desired, new or updated descriptivematerial, can be saved to library 270.

Also regardless of whether the reference voiceprints in table 240 aredeveloped during a training mode in a current conference call, ordownloaded from library 270, it is desirable to limit the number ofentries in table 240 to the number of participants in the conferencecall. This is because, generally, the fewer the number of entries intable 240, the quicker and more accurately matching module 237 will beable to make a match between a real-time voiceprint 230 and a referencevoiceprint.

Log 241 is a memory into which information 250 is stored to provide ahistory of the conference call. The history of the conference call isavailable as history data 242. History data 242 would be useful incombination with an audio recording for preparation of a transcript orminutes of the conference call.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a portion of a telecommunications system400 where CV 122 provides information 499 to a video conferencing system405. Information 499, similarly to information 250 as described earlier,is indicative of a participant in a teleconference. Videoteleconferencing system 405 includes a controller 465, a keyboard 496, acamera 490 and a video display 480. Video teleconferencing system 405 iscoupled to a video conference center (not shown) via a video conferencelink 470.

Keyboard 496 is an input device that enables participant 110 to enterdata and control information 493 into video conferencing system 405.Camera 490 captures images of participant 110 and sends image data 485to controller 465. Video display 480 receives video information 475 fromcontroller 465 for presentation to participant 110.

Video conference link 470 has both a video channel and an audio channel.The audio channel functions to merge the audio signals of allparticipants, i.e., participant 110 at the location of videoconferencing system 405 and participants at other locations served bythe video conference center. The video channel of video conference link470 typically contains a signal from one of the other active locationsat which there is a participant. If there is no active location, thelink may contain video signals from more than one location, merged in amanner that can be presented in separate areas of video display 480.

Connection 125 couples telephone 120 and CV 122 to the audio channel ofconference link 470. Thus, information 499, which is indicative of whichparticipant is active, can be used by video conference system 405 inconjunction with the video conference center to determine which videosignal to display. In addition, descriptive information stored in table240 and included as a component of information 250 can be obtained byvideo conference system 405 and the video conference center, and can bepresented on video display 480, for example as labels in appropriatevideo picture areas or in a separate area of display 480 dedicated to aschematic presentation such as shown in FIG. 3.

Link 499 can also carry information from video conferencing system 405to CV 122, for example to indicate which location has been determined asbeing active. This information could then be included in a presentationsuch as shown in FIG. 3. Noted however, that CV 122 can determinewhether there is an active participant at a location from which a videopicture is not currently displayed.

When information such as shown in FIG. 3 is presented on display 480, itis not necessary for CV 122 to include display 255. Similarly, keyboard496 of the video conferencing system may be used to perform thefunctions of keyboard 265.

The integration of CV 122 with video conferencing system 405 is notlimited to that illustrated in FIG. 4. For example, link 499 may beomitted leaving connection 125 as the only connection between CV 122 andvideo conferencing system 405. In this case, video conferencing system405 can be generic, and the speaker is identified on a display of CV122, e.g., display 255, as in the embodiment of FIG. 2. A graphicaleditor could be used on display 255 to place perimeter lines 350, 360,and 385 in relative positions that correspond approximately to theplacement on display 480 of the video pictures of Boston, N.Y., andHartford respectively.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a telecommunication system 500 where a CV515 is configured for use in a private branch exchange (PBX). System 500includes a PBX switch 510, a CV 515, and a plurality of participantstations 520. PBX switch 510 is coupled to a public telephone network(not shown) via a trunk 505. Each of participant stations 520 includes adisplay 525 and a telephone 530. Telephones 530 and CV 515 are coupledto PBX switch 510. CV 515 includes a distributor 516 through which itselectively provides information 517 to participant stations 520. Atleast one of participant stations 530 includes a keyboard (not shown inFIG. 5) similar to keyboard 265 so that descriptive information andmanual control information can be supplied to CV 515. Other descriptiveinformation, for example telephone numbers, locations, andorganizational affiliations of conference participants, can be receivedby CV 515 from PBX switch 510. Information 517, similarly to information250, is indicative of a participant in a conference call, and ispresented on displays 525 to allow participants to recognize whichparticipant in the conference call is speaking at a particular time. CV515 is centralized and is thus shared by participant stations 520. CV515 may contain independent modules separately performing functionssimilar to those of voiceprint generator 225 and organizer 235 for thedifferent participants.

It should be understood that various alternatives and modifications ofthe present invention could be devised by those skilled in the art. Forexample, an embodiment of the present invention can be an add-onstand-alone device that is useable with a variety of conferencingsituations, for example, calls set up by calling into a conferencebridge, calls set up by adding other phones to an initial two-party callthrough the use of PBX or a centrex feature, and calls in which thereare multiple participants at some locations, using speakerphones.Nevertheless, the present invention is intended to embrace all suchalternatives, modifications and variances that fall within the scope ofthe appended claims.

1. A system for facilitating a conference call, comprising: a module togenerate a real-time voiceprint from a voice input of a participant insaid conference call; and a module to provide information indicative ofsaid participant based on said real-time voiceprint.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said information causes a display to show arepresentation of said participant.
 3. The system of claim 2, whereinsaid participant is a first participant, wherein said display also showsa representation of a second participant in said conference call, andwherein said information causes said display to show a relationshipbetween said first participant and said second participant.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said information indicates an identity ofsaid participant.
 5. A system for facilitating a conference call, saidsystem comprising: a module to generate a real-time voiceprint from avoice input of a participant in said conference call; and a module todetermine whether said real-time voiceprint matches a referencevoiceprint.
 6. The system of claim 5, further comprising a module toprovide information indicative of said participant based on saiddetermination.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein said information causesa display to show a representation of said participant.
 8. The system ofclaim 5, further comprising a module to store said reference voiceprintto a memory that is utilized by said module to determine whether saidreal-time voiceprint matches a reference voiceprint.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein said module to store said reference voiceprint obtainssaid reference voiceprint from a library of reference voiceprints. 10.The system of claim 9, wherein said module to store said referencevoiceprint obtains said reference voiceprint from said library uponinitiation of said conference call.
 11. The system of claim 5, furthercomprising a module to refine said reference voiceprint during saidconference call based on said real-time voiceprint.
 12. A system forfacilitating a conference call, comprising: a module to generate a firstvoiceprint from a first voice input during said call and to generate asecond voiceprint from a second voice input during said call; and amodule to determine whether said second voiceprint matches said firstvoiceprint.
 13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a module toprovide information indicative of said participant based on saiddetermination.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein said informationcauses said display to show a representation of said participant.
 15. Astorage media that contains instructions for controlling a processor tofacilitate a conference call, said storage media comprising:instructions to control said processor to generate a real-timevoiceprint from a voice input of a participant in said conference call;and instructions to control said processor to provide informationindicative of said participant based on said real-time voiceprint. 16.The storage media of claim 15, wherein said information causes a displayto show a representation of said participant.
 17. A storage media thatcontains instructions for controlling a processor to facilitate aconference call, said storage media comprising: instructions to controlsaid processor to generate a real-time voiceprint from a voice input ofa participant in said conference call; and instructions to control saidprocessor to determine whether said real-time voiceprint matches areference voiceprint.
 18. The storage media of claim 17, furthercomprising instructions to control said processor to provide informationindicative of said participant based on said determination.
 19. Thestorage media of claim 18, wherein said information causes a display toshow a representation of said participant.
 20. A storage media thatcontains instructions for controlling a processor to facilitate aconference call, said storage media comprising: instructions to controlsaid processor to generate a first voiceprint from a first voice inputduring said call and to generate a second voiceprint from a second voiceinput during said call; and instructions to control said processor todetermine whether said second voiceprint matches said first voiceprint.21. The storage media of claim 20, further comprising instructions tocontrol said processor to provide information indicative of saidparticipant based on said determination.
 22. The storage media of claim21, wherein said information causes a display to show a representationof said participant.